Data on dance and specifically ballet is largely private, kept for internal review within arts organizations. So when I began this project, the role of data collection in ballet was unclear. The task seemed intractable. Limited information, spread out between many, many company websites. What insight could be gained? Would there be anything meaningful at … Continue reading A Role for Data in Ballet
Hiring Revisited (Part 1)
Last time we looked at hiring and dancer retention, the focus was on the top 6 companies for the 2018 - 2019 season (https://pointes.data.blog/2019/05/12/youre-hired-fired/). This year at Data Pointes, we've followed up that data but also expanded analysis to the top 22 US companies (well, really 25 but some companies had incomplete data). We've quadrupled … Continue reading Hiring Revisited (Part 1)
Introducing The American Ballet Network
One of the major goals of Data Pointes is to aid in career decision-making by providing relevant data - empowering dancers, educators, and parents. After a lot of hard work, I am proud to announce the creation of The American Ballet Network (desktop: https://jasonyeung.shinyapps.io/datapointes/ , mobile: https://jasonyeung.shinyapps.io/datapointesmobile/ ), an interactive tool designed to do just … Continue reading Introducing The American Ballet Network
A ‘Brand-Name’ Ballet Education
A hypothetical situation. You go to [Big Shot Company]'s summer intensive. They invite you to join their affiliate school year-round. Teenage you is floored by the immensity of this decision as are your parents. You'll have to move away from home but you think maybe it's worth it for a better chance at your dream company. What do you do?
You’re Hired/Fired!
Hiring, firing, and moving is a regular part of the ballet world. Companies are made up of dancers in their first season, all the way up to their 24th season (San Francisco Ballet Principal, Yuan Yuan Tan). Ballet is dynamic and let's be honest - it's not the most stable profession. What is the dancer … Continue reading You’re Hired/Fired!
Where You From?
Out of the 467 dancers in the top 7 American ballet companies, 158 were born outside of the United States (33.8%). Elite ballet has been an international endeavor for a while. Competitions, international company auditions, and video auditions have allowed foreign-born talent to more effectively seek jobs in US companies. Let's look at this particular … Continue reading Where You From?
The Gender/Rank Breakdown
The most basic of breakdowns. Above is a waffle plot where each square is an individual dancer - categorized by company, gender, and rank. Some straightforward patterns appear in the structure of the companies. First off, the range in company size is staggering. ABT is over twice the size of PNB! A cursory glance at … Continue reading The Gender/Rank Breakdown
Introducing Data Pointes
The Premise As a ballet dancer, you start to develop a sense of "what" and "who" ballet is. You'll see shows, attend summer intensives, and eventually join companies where you'll discover the type of person who makes it. We all have preconceived ideas about our fellow dancers. But are they actually true? I've analyzed publicly-available … Continue reading Introducing Data Pointes
